MY ACCOUNT
Manchester City and Liverpool must forget about their Premier League title tussle this afternoon as they bid to book a place in the FA Cup final.
The two best sides in English football collide at Wembley knowing they are win away from booking a return to next month to face either Chelsea or Crystal Palace.
Ahead of what promises to be a blockbuster occasion, we take a look at City’s record in the last-four stage of the football’s oldest domestic cup competition.
Since the inaugural FA Cup final in 1872, which saw Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers 1-0 at Kennington Oval, the Manchester giants have appeared in no less than 16 semi-finals — winning 11 and losing five.
Wednesday the first
Their first semi-final came in 1904 when they defeated Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 before overcoming Bolton 1-0 in the final — the first of six FA Cups for the blue side of Manchester.
City lost to Newcastle in the semis in 1924 but they did manage to defeat rivals Manchester United 3-0 in the last-four stage two years later before losing to Bolton 1-0 in the final.
A second semi-final loss came at the hands of Arsenal in 1932, with City going down 1-0 in that encounter.
They defeated Derby 3-2 12 months later, only to then lose 3-0 to Everton in the final.
In 1934, City thrashed Aston Villa 6-1 in the semi-finals before edging past Portsmouth 2-1 at Wembley to lift the trophy for the second time in their history.
Long wait
The City faithful had to wait 21 years for the club’s next FA Cup semi-final appearance.
They defeated Sunderland 1-0 but were outdone in the final and ended up losing 3-1 to Newcastle.
The Citizens made up for that disappointment 12 months later as they lifted the trophy, beating Birmingham 3-1 after knocking out Tottenham 1-0 in the previous round.
It was 1969 when City next won the FA Cup, edging Everton 1-0 in the semi-finals before beating Leicester by the same score.
More than a decade later, the Citizens beat Ipswich 1-0 in the semi-finals in 1981 before losing 3-2 to Tottenham in a replay.
Back in the big time
It was some 30 years later when the Citizens were next in semi-final action.
They defeated Manchester United at Wembley to reach the final, where they beat Stoke 1-0 at the national stadium.
City also reached the final in 2013, defeating Chelsea in the last four before famously being undone by Wigan in the final — Ben Watson scoring the only goal.
In 2017, City lost to Arsenal 2-1 after extra-time in the semi-finals but they made amends for that loss two years later, seeing off Brighton 1-0 in the semis before thrashing Watford 6-0 in the final.
Unfortunately for Pep Guardiola’s men, they have suffered back-to-back semi-final defeats since last lifting the trophy.
They suffered a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in 2020 before going down 1-0 at the hands of Chelsea last year.
Of the six semi-finals that City have played at Wembley, they have a record of three wins and three defeats.
Today will be the fourth straight FA Cup semi-final the Citizens have played in as they continue their bid to lift the trophy for the seventh time.
City’s semi-final FA Cup record
FA Cup semi-final appearances: 16
Won: 11 (1904, 1926, 1933, 1934, 1955, 1956, 1969, 1981, 2011, 2013, 2019)
Lost: Five (1924, 1932, 2017, 2020, 2021)
City’s FA Cup final record
Six-time winners (1904, 1934, 1956, 1969, 2011, 2019)
Five-time runners-up (1926, 1933, 1955, 1981, 2013)
